Millions of children and teens lose access to accounts as Australia's world-first social media ban begins

[reACTIONary]

32. My point is that beers and smokes...

... are not the same as ideas and talking to your friends about life. They are categorically different. So prohibiting kids from buying beer is not on point for prohibiting them from organizing a party on Facebook.

I am not against suicide prevention... I think it's great that they put nets up on the Golden Gate bridge. I'm all for help lines. But again, I think that is categorically different from banning kids from interacting with each other and learning more about the world.

Whether or not some specific group of parents are or are not "moral panickers," the fact of the matter is that such incidents and such groups can excite moral panics and that moral panics generally do not lead to reasoned deliberation and can be exploited by those who have, for want of a different characterization, illiberal intentions.

And I wonder why we don't hear more about kids who were diverted from suicide by engaging on social media. I know there are LBGQ+ kids who have been spared a lot of despair and loneliness by finding others like themselves on social media. Some have said they overcame suicidal ideation. There must be others besides them who have been helped by talking to a supportive community. But I guess if your kid doesn't commit suicide, you don't form a group and make everyone aware of it.

And, some of those illiberal parents who bully their LGBQ+ children who have found others online like them are all for a social media ban.